The lawsuit was filed by Roseanne L., a woman from West Virginia who was injured by the Celect® Retrievable Inferior Vena Cava Filter (“IVC Filter”) manufactured by Cook Medical Inc.
Cook Celect® Inferior Vena Cava
The IVC Filter was implanted on January 11, 2012 at Charleston Area Medical Center in Charleston, West Virginia by Dr. Albeir Y. Mousa.
Before the filter was implanted, the FDA had issued a Safety Communication asking physicians to remove retrievable IVC filters as soon as protection from pulmonary embolism is no longer needed.
On April 12, 2016, she underwent a CT scan as a follow-up to her diagnosis of ovarian cancer in 2012. The scan revealed that the Celect IVC Filter had tilted and punctured through the vein.
Her doctors wrote that the Celect IVC filter “has its tip below the level of the main renal arteries. Extraluminal extension along the inferior margin of the filter is suspected.”
Dr. Mousa confirmed that the Celect IVC Filter punctured through the wall of her inferior vena cava. He also stated that he would not attempt to remove it, according to the lawsuit:
As a result of the tilt, embedment, perforation of the vena cava, and inability to remove the Celect filter, Plaintiff faces numerous health risks, including the risk of death.”
Lawyers accuse Cook Medical of unreasonably and carelessly failing to properly warn of the dangers and risks of harm associated with the Cook IVC Filter, specifically its risk of tilt, fracture, migration, and other failures.
The lawsuit was filed on May 12, 2017 in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, West Virginia — Civil Action No. 17-C-670.
There are now over 1,900 other IVC filter lawsuits against Cook Medical pending in Multi-District Litigation (MDL No. 2570) — In Re: Cook Medical, Inc., IVC Filters Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation.
The plaintiff is represented by attorney Ben C. Martin of The Law Offices of Ben C. Martin in Dallas, Texas.
Ben C. Martin is a trial attorney who serves as the plaintiffs’ co-lead counsel in the Cook IVC Filter MDL.
